Reverse Osmosis Water – What is the Whole Controversy About?

Reverse Osmosis water is one thing which has long been surrounded with controversies. The companies producing such purification units have already done their bit to hush down the whole thing but thanks to the Internet where information can be shared so easily that hiding anything from educated customers is just not possible.

Though the companies continue to boast about the quality of the reverse osmosis water – as per the studies done – this water has been proven to be unfit for human consumption. It has already been confirmed that prolonged consumption of such water can lead to multiple mineral deficiencies and hence such purifiers should not be used in our homes for purifying the drinking water.

To get a hang of the whole thing, let me first share how reverse osmosis water is produced.

The RO based purifiers use a thin semi permeable membrane having ultra fine pores in it. Water is forced under pressure to pass through this membrane.

Now, the way it works is simple – whatever is smaller than the pores is allowed to pass through it while the larger particles are left behind.

Water which contains many contaminants – like Chlorine, pharmaceutical drugs, pesticides, fertilizers, virus, cysts etc – is when made to pass through the membrane, it being smaller is allowed to go through while the larger contaminants are blocked by the membrane and hence they get separated from the water.

Consider two very important facts here:

1. Chlorine and pharmaceutical drugs are examples of contaminants having very small molecular size – small enough to pass through the membrane. So, naturally they too will be allowed to pass the membrane along with the water. Hence the water produced is still not clean and pure.

These contaminants are very harmful and they can even lead to rectal and bladder cancer. Using a water purifier which is capable of handling only a few contaminants (all those having larger molecular size) is not an advisable solution. Why not go for one which can remove all of them irrespective of their size and shape?

2. There are some minerals like Calcium and Magnesium found in natural water. These minerals are essential for the day to day functioning of our body and consuming water rich in them is the best way to ensure that they reach our body in required amount.

But reverse osmosis water is deprived of these minerals!

These minerals are larger in molecular size and hence when water is made to pass through the RO membrane, the minerals present in it get blocked and are thus stripped off from it.

Such water is known as de-mineralized water. Consuming it for long can result into multiple mineral deficiencies and hence various types of health issues. This is why medical experts do not recommend reverse osmosis based purifiers.

So, this is the whole controversy about reverse osmosis water. If you want to know about a better alternative to RO based purifiers, visit my website listed below.